Non-liberal hippie gay guy hoping to join a fraternity...

[33girl]

What are the feng shui applications to all this?

[Dionysus]

This is me










Haha, not really. This cannot be a real person though. That first paragraph? LOLHEHEWTF?

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by agzg

Fucking republican.

No no, I don't fuck republicans. I have standards.

/rimshot

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by KSig RC

Guys, I don't see why we're being so harsh on this dude - nobody jumped my throat when I explained to the board that I'm straight, but not all uptight and athletic and macho like those other straight guys ... I'm definitely swishy and speak in tones both dulcet and lispy, I subscribe to both Details and Us Weekly, and not only do people describe me as sartorial, but I know what the word means, too. I don't high five, my flatulence is reserved for the proper time and place, I've never wasted a single minute watching the NFL, and I'm such a gentle lover they call me The Napkin.

I don't want anybody to think I act straight - I definitely do not, heaven forbid. What's the big problem with that, other than sounding incredibly stilted and judgmental and reliant upon fishy stereotypes?

This is hysterical. Best of GreekChat, I'd say.

Unrelated to KSigRC's humor, can anyone speak to whether guys use legacy forms in any meaningful way? I know that being a legacy isn't a guarantee of anything at all, but with the NPCs, there are forms to officially notify the chapter of your family's connection to the group without having to name drop. Do guys use those or do they tend to backfire, in a "if you were a legacy who mattered, we'd know about you already" kind of way?

I know it's not UNC, but I was recently talking to a former student of mine who is currently at UGA: I think in the context of his involvement on campus, I asked him if he was interested in rushing, and he said that although there were closeted or semi-closeted guys in most groups, that it was more rare for guys to be out, especially in the most traditional groups.

On a lot of southern campuses, the most traditional groups are often regarded as being the strongest groups. So perversely, the OP may find himself in a bind that the groups that most appeal to him in terms of reputation are likely to be the very groups that are most likely to reject based on orientation.

[TSteven]

Originally Posted by UGAalum94

Unrelated to KSigRC's humor, can anyone speak to whether guys use legacy forms in any meaningful way? I know that being a legacy isn't a guarantee of anything at all, but with the NPCs, there are forms to officially notify the chapter of your family's connection to the group without having to name drop. Do guys use those or do they tend to backfire, in a "if you were a legacy who mattered, we'd know about you already" kind of way?

Hoover: Kent is a legacy, Otter. His brother was a '59, Fred Dorfman.
Flounder: He said legacies usually get asked to pledge automatically.
Otter: Oh, well, usually. Unless the pledge in question turns out to be a real closet-case.
Otter, Boon: Like Fred.



Kidding aside, some fraternities use some sort of legacy form. Many times, the only real information they want to know is if the rushee is a legacy.

But what is more common - but still may not be that common on some campuses - are letters of introduction. The letter might say that the rushee is an ok person and that the chapter might want to invite him to events and get to know him better.

Usually, the better the fraternity member (alumnus) knows the rushee, the more likely the rushee may be invited to rush parties. Especially if the member sending the introduction letter is well respected within the chapter and/or fraternity as a whole.

If the letter of introduction is for a legacy, it “should” carry more weight. But in the end, it is up to the chapter to decide if the rushee is a good fit for the chapter and worthy of a bid.

All in all, since on most campuses there isn't an IFC quota nor IFC chapter total imposed on the chapter, a legacy - if he meets the chapter's standards - may be considered a "bonus" as it were. In many cases, legacies may be rather desirable depending on how well their (bio) brothers and/or father (what ever relation or legacy status applies) are connected / regarded to the chapter or to the fraternity.

Originally Posted by UGAalum94

On a lot of southern campuses, the most traditional groups are often regarded as being the strongest groups. So perversely, the OP may find himself in a bind that the groups that most appeal to him in terms of reputation are likely to be the very groups that are most likely to reject based on orientation.

When I was an undergraduate at UK, most so called “top tier” fraternities had at least one open gay member. Maybe every chapter. This was in the late 1970s and there didn’t seem to be such a brouhaha regarding one’s sexuality as there is now.

I don’t know if they were open at the time they rushed or if they came out later. But it seemed that most everyone within the UK Greek community knew. And at least publicly, there wasn’t any negative talk nor adverse affect on their chapters. Maybe because at the time, people - in general - were simply more private about their personal life and the UK Greek community (in general) respected that.

[UGAalum94]

The guy I was talking to is out and is pretty active on campus. I think he felt like orientation for him might be an issue with some groups. I suspect that sexual orientation is going to be less and less of an issue as guys grow up always having known some folks who were out.

But at some southern schools, you're looking at some chapters who may not have ethnically or racially integrated. I suppose if some of the really elitist and exclusionary groups have some legacies or guys from their hometown private schools who just happen to be gay and interested in membership, then maybe they will end up being more accepting of orientation than with other demographic factors. ETA: they may think of other stuff as being markers of social class, orientation not so much. I don't know. It's kind of a funny thing to talk about because how many random members of other groups are going to know if a guy is gay or out? Would I have known about the sexual orientation of top tier guys at UGA in the 1990s? Probably not, but I know that even rumors of groups having gay members back then were scandalous.

I suspect that UNC categorically is probably more progressive than some other southern schools.

[TSteven]

Originally Posted by UGAalum94

The guy I was talking to is out and is pretty active on campus. I think he felt like orientation for him might be an issue with some groups. I suspect that sexual orientation is going to be less and less of an issue as guys grow up always having known some folks who were out.

But at some southern schools, you're looking at some chapters who may not have ethnically or racially integrated. I suppose if some of the really elitist and exclusionary groups have some legacies or guys from their hometown private schools who just happen to be gay and interested in membership, then maybe they will end up being more accepting of orientation than with other demographic factors. ETA: they may think of other stuff as being markers of social class, orientation not so much. I don't know. It's kind of a funny thing to talk about because how many random members of other groups are going to know if a guy is gay or out? Would I have known about the sexual orientation of top tier guys at UGA in the 1990s? Probably not, but I know that even rumors of groups having gay members back then were scandalous.

I suspect that UNC categorically is probably more progressive than some other southern schools.

To the bolded, this was my take away.

As I recall, a few of the guys came from so called prominent Southern families. Perhaps their social status had more to do with their acceptance than anything else. Regardless, their orientation was a non issue. Which may also, in part, be due to the perception that they were in “top” chapters.

[UGAalum94]

It's sort of interesting to think about. Maybe college guys were actually more homophobic in the early 1990s than in the 70s, which might be sort of plausible because of the 90s guys having grown up with perception of a gay/AIDS connection. Because as someone noted earlier in the thread, there have always been gays guys in fraternities; it's just a question of how out they could comfortably be or to whom. I'd expect more general acceptance of homosexuality today but wasn't entirely surprised by what my former student said because fraternity life has typically been pretty conformist at UGA at a lot of chapters.

I guess if the OP has the family background for a top chapter, maybe his orientation won't be an issue at all.